Counter



S. A. CO-MISKEY.

COUNTER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1.9.19.

Patented June 8, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

(J/Romans UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STANLEY A. COMIEKEY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE CUTLER- HAMMER MEG. 00., A CORPORATION.

COUNTER.

Application filed July 16, 1919.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STANLEY A. CoMIs- KEY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in the city of Baltimore, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Counters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the counting of newspapers or similar articles produced in large numbers and delivered in rapid succession. In accordance with the applicants invention, counting is done or rather simplified by dividing the product into groups, each group containing the same predetermined number of the articles. The appli cants machine, as developed, is used in connection with the delivery mechanism of a newspaper printing press. Counting or grouping is accomplished by displacing or setting out, emphasizing or indicating one of the articles delivered at the end of each group.

In the present instance, the articles, particularly newspapers, at the ends of the groups are emphasized, indicated or made prominent so as to mark the limits of these groups by changing their position relative to the other papers as by turning, and causing them to project fromthe piles into which the papers are formed at the end of the delivery operation.

This demarcation of the groups is further made apparent by the fact that the newspapers as delivered are folded, the folded edges of all the papers except the markers or turned papers being in one direction, so that the folded edges of the markers appear between the unfolded edges of the other papers in the group for purposes of indication or counting. I

The applicants counter is applied to a delivery mechanism in which the newspapers are dropped from rollers into the pockets or between the blades of a fan or laying member, by which they are caught as they come from the rollers and carried downward, the papers being turned as they descend in the pockets of the fan and laid in uniform relation to each other with their folded edges adjacent and parallel.

While I have referred to the limiting members or end members of the groups as being turned, it might be said that marking is accomplished rather by delivering them Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J nne 8, 1920.

Serial No. 311,243.

to the pack without turning than by turnlng them, as suggested, that is, in this particnlar instance the bulk of the papers are turned and the markers are delivered without turning.

To this end I have provided a shield which moves at intervals, bearing a uniform relation to the speed of rotation of the fan and to the rate of delivery of the articles being counted, the shield being moved at such intervals to a position between the rollers and the particular fan pocket which is at that time in cooperative relation with the rollers, so that it intercepts the article or paper delivered or closes the pocket and prevents turning of this particular article or paper, and preferably displaces it so that it protrudes from the pile, marking the division between the two groups to which it is adacent.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated a portion of the delivery mechanism to which the counting or grouping de vice of my invention has been applied. In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of such delivery mechanism including the preferred embodiment of the counting features.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a slightly different feed mechanism to which a modified form of counter is applied.

Referring to the drawings by numerals and having particular reference to Fig. 1, the delivery mechanism as shown consists of delivery rollers 1, 2 driven by means of gears 3, 4 from pulley 5 to the shaft of which the latter gear is secured. Cooperating with the delivery rollers is a rotary laying member or delivery fan 6 having its blades 7 turned backward or preferably curved backward, i. 6., in a direction opposite to the direction of revolution, which in the present instance is anti-clockwise. This fan 6 is mounted on a shaft 8 and driven by toothed gears 9 on the shaft 8, an idler 10, and a gear 4; on the shaft 11 of the pulley 5. The shaft 8 also carries a worm 12 meshing with a worm wheel 13 on an upright shaft 14, to the lower extremity of which is secured a bevel gear 15 meshing with a bevel gear 16 on a horizontal shaft 17. This shaft carries a wheel or disk cam 18 with a depression or notch 19 to receive at predetermined intervals the cam follower 20 which rolls on the surface of the cam. This follower 20 is carried by an arm 21 rigidly secured to a shaft 22 parallel to the shaft 17, and also secured to the same shaft, shown as at an angle of about 45 to the arm 21, is an arm 23'. Pivotally connected to the end of this arm is a rod 24 which slides in a stationary guide or bracket 25 on the machine frame, the bracket also serving as an abutment for a spiral spring 26 which encircles the rod and presses at its opposite extremity against a collar 27 on the rod. In addition to the arms 21 and 28, the shaft 22 also carries rigidly secured thereto an arm 29 which is rigid with the shaft and which, as shown in what may be termed the normal position of the apparatus, is horizontal. This arm 29 carries a shield 30 mounted on an extension or bracket 31 and adapted to swing from the normal position in which it is shown to a position in which it intersects and blocks the path of a newspaper or article passing from the rollers to the corresponding pocket of the fan, this motion being produced by the entrance of the follower 20 into the notch or depression 19 in the cam surface. It will be noted that the depression 19 is only large enough to receive the follower, so there is necessarily an immediate return of the follower to the circular surface of the cam and of the shield to normal position, so that it engages but one paper or other article at each stroke.

Referring to Fig. 2, I have shown delivery rolls 36, 36, a rotary fan 37 having blades which are turned backward, e'. 6., contrary to the direction of revolution. In this instance the blades are eight instead of four in numberas in the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. The shield 39 which corresponds to the shield 30 in Fig. 1, instead of being rigidly mounted on an arm carried by the cam follower shaft, is piv oted at 40 just below the bite of the delivery rolls, from which pivot it hangs downward and swings through an arc of 30 to 40. In its. angular position it extends beneath and well backward of the bite of the rolls.

Pivoted to the rear side of this shield 39 at 41 and extending forward in a nearly horizontal direction, is a connecting rod 42. This connecting rod is in turn pivotally connected at 43 to an upright arm 44 rigid with a follower shaft 45. This follower shaft 45 carries an arm 46 at the end of which is a roller 47 engaging a cam surface 48 having a notch or depressed portion 49 to be engaged by the follower 47 to impart a rocking motion to the shaft 45, the follower being kept in contact with the cam by means of a suitable spring 50 mounted on a rod 51 pivotally connected to an arm 52 on the shaft 45, and at its opposite extremity passing through a guide 53 on the frame, which serves as an abutment for the spring 50 encircling the rod 51 and bearing at its other end against a collar 55 on the rod. The swing of the shield 39 is rendered adjustable by means of a series of holes 54 in the upright end of the upright arm 44, the connecting rod 42 being joined to the arm 44 by a pin 56 which passes through one of the holes 57 in the end of the connecting rod and a corresponding hole of the series of holes 54 near the end of the upright arm.

In the operation of the device, newspapers, printed and folded, or possibly other articles to be counted, are delivered from the feed rollers and received in the pockets, 2'. 6., between the blades 7 of the fan 6, and the latter, being rotated lefthanded as shown, carries the newspapers shown at 60 in Fig. 1, downward for about 180 and drops them on a suitable table or belt 61 which is not a feature of the present invention. In the present instance the newspapers are delivered with the folded edges first and they enter the pockets in the same way. The mere rotation of the fan is sufficient to catch the newspapers as they come from the rollers, turn them and drop them as described. The rollers and fan. in the present instance are driven at a uniform relative speed which is such that the rollers deliver one paper to each pocket as it passes, and in order to count or group the papers by indicating or setting out single papers at uniform intervals, the shield is projected into the path of the papers at regular in tervals of time bearing a predetermined preferably uniform relation to the speed of the rollers and fan, and to the number of papers to be thus grouped, 2'. a, intervening between the single papers so emphasized or indicated. As has already been pointed out, the fan receives the papers folded edge forward, turns and lays their folded edges in uniform and parallel relation. When the shield is thus projected into the path of the papers entering the fan pockets, any paper dropped from the delivery rollers at this time is deflected from its path so that it not only fails to enter the pocket but is not turned, or it may be said to be oppositely turned, causing the paper to drop on the table or'belt with its folded edge oppositely disposed to the folded edges of the adjacent papers.

When the articles are gathered into a pile, as papers ordinarily are at the end of the delivery operation, the raw edges of the emphasized paper project from the pile, giving the grouping or counting effect desired. It will be noted that the depression 19 in the cam is small as shown, being only sufiicient to receive the follower, so that the. follower merely enters the depression and is immediately forced out again by the rotation of the cam, imparting to the shield a forward and return stroke in close succession. The extreme advanced po sition of the shield being the operative one in the path of the papers being delivered, it will be understood that the immediate withdrawal of the shield thus effected limits its action to a single newspaper at each operation. While it is considered desirable to emphasize or project but one paper in this way to mark each group, this may be considered a matter of the proportion of the parts and of selection. The operation of the device shown in Fig. 2 is in prin ciple the same as the operation of that shown in Fig. 1.

I have thus shown and described specifically two types of delivery mechanism to which different embodiments of my counter are applied in order that its nature and operation may be clearly understood and those skilled in the art may be enabled to practise the invention. However, the specific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in their limiting sense and the scope of the invention is defined in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination in a counter for folded sheets and the like delivery rollers and a rotary laying fan, a conveyer on which the fan lays the sheets with the corresponding edges disposed in a single direction, a counting and indicating device consisting of a deflecting shield and means for moving the same into a position between the bite of the rollers and the pocket of the fan in receiving position and withdrawing it, in tercepting certain sheets and causing them to reach the conveyer with their edges oppositely disposed to those of the other sheets, the motion of the shield having a definite and constant relation to the speed of the rollers and the fan.

2. In combination in a counter for folded sheets and the like delivery means and a laying member which receives the product from the delivery means, a conveyer on which said member lays the sheets with the corresponding edges disposed in a single direction, a shield, means for moving the same into the path of the product as it passes from the delivery means to the laying member and withdrawing it, intercepting certain sheets and causing them to reach the conveyer with their edges oppositely disposed to those of the other sheets, the motion of the shield having a definite and predetermined relation to the speed of the delivery means and the laying member.

3. In a counter for folded sheets and the like in combination with delivery means and means for receiving the product from the delivery means, turning it and laying it in uniform relation, a conveyer on which the turning means lays the sheets with the corresponding edges disposed in a single direction, a shield and means for moving the shield into the path of the product between the delivery means and the turning means, and withdrawing it, whereby the shield is caused to intercept the product for a predetermined interval and prevent turning, the motion of the shield bearing a uniform relation to the motion of the delivery means and turning means, causing them to reach the conveyer with their edges oppositely disposed to those of the other sheets.

4. In a counting mechanism in combination a conveyer, a laying member, means for delivering the articles to the laying member in a uniform position, and means for actuating the laying member to receive the articles and turn them and deliver them in uniform relation to said conveyer, a defiector, means for moving the deflector at intervals bearing a fixed relation to the speed of the laying member whereby articles selected at fixed and equal intervals are deflected from the laying means and oppositely turned to those handled by the laying means and delivered to said conveyer in reversed position, and thus emphasized and made prominent to serve as an indicating means in counting the articles delivered.

5. In a delivery mechanism a conveyer, a rotary laying fan, means for driving the same, the fan having blades turned in a direction opposite to the direction of revolution, means for delivering folded sheets between the blades, the folding edge being forward, means for actuating the same to deliver the sheets to the conveyer in corresponding relation, 2'. 0., with their folded edges turned in a single direction, a deflector normally adjacent the path by which the sheets approach the laying means, means for oscillating the deflector at intervals bearing a fixed relation to the speed of the laying fan whereby the deflector is interposed in the path of the sheets approaching the laying means, causing a predetermined number of the sheets to be displaced in the delivery and deliver it to the conveyer in reversed relation, 2'. 6., with their unfolded edges between the folded edges of the other articles, a predetermined number of normally placed articles intervening between the displaced articles, to serve as indicating means in counting.

6. In a delivery mechanism a conveyer, a rotary laying fan, means for driving the same, for turning and delivering folded sheets, the fan having blades turned in a direction opposite to the direction of revolution, means for delivering folded sheets between the blades, the folded. edge being forward, means for actuating the same to deliver the sheets to the conveyer in corresponding relation, 2'. 6., with their folded edges turned in a single direction, a deflector normally adjacent the path by which the articles approach the laying means,

means for oscillating the deflector at interthe unfolded edges or the displaced articles are adjacent the folded edges of the sheets handled by the laying member, making them prominent so that they serve as an indicating means in counting.

7. In combination, a laying fan, means for delivering folded sheets to the laying fan, the folded edges being forward, and oscillating shaft carrying a deflector and a cam action for oscillating the shaft at intervals bearing a fixed relation to the speed of the laying fan, causing the deflector to enter the path of the sheets and deflect the sheets from the laying fan and turn them into a position opposite to that given the sheets handled by the laying fan, so that the unfolded edges of the sheets thus deflected are placed between the folded edges of the remaining sheets, so that they serve as indicating means in counting.

8. In a counter, means for delivering folded sheets, means for turning and laying them, and means for deflecting sheets from the turning means at intervals causing the sheets thus deflected to be delivered without turning so that they are delivered with their edges intervening between the opposite edges of'the unturned sheets to serve as indicators in counting.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland, this 12th day of July, 1919.

STANLEY A. COMISKEY. Witnesses:

EMMA AHLSLEGER, EDWIN F. SAMUELs. 

